The 12-point startup name checklist

Updated May 11, 2026

You've generated a shortlist. Before you spend $15 on the .com — let alone $1,500 on the .ai or print a single business card — run each candidate through these twelve checks. It takes 30 minutes; it saves quarters.

The 12 checks

Say it out loud, then ask three people to spell it. If they hesitate, it's a hard pass.
Google the exact name + "company". If a similarly-positioned brand comes up in the first three results, change names.
USPTO TESS search (US) or your jurisdiction's trademark registry. Look for live marks in your goods/services class.
Check matching social handles on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and GitHub. Register the same handle everywhere or pick another name.
Check the .com, .ai, .io, and .net availability. If only one TLD is open, decide if you'll later regret the others being taken.
Domain pricing: is the .com listed as "premium" anywhere? If a marketplace shows >$5K, factor that into your name decision now, not later.
International meaning: paste the name into Google Translate, source = "Detect language". Make sure it's not a slur or a brand of laxative in Portuguese.
Trademark availability outside your country if you ever plan to operate there. EUIPO for Europe, IPONZ for NZ, etc.
Domain history: putting the name into archive.org/wayback. If the domain previously hosted spam, that history follows you.
Reverse image search the name + "logo". If something exists, you'll be perceptually compared.
Test it in a sentence: "Hi, I work at __." If the name doesn't flow into normal speech, drop it.
Have one founder defend the name to a peer outside the company. If they can't articulate why this name and not another, it's arbitrary — which is fine, but they should know that going in.

Common naming mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Mistake	Why it hurts
Naming after current tech ("AI-", "Quantum-")	Date-stamps the brand to a year
Naming after the founder	Limits exit, complicates partnerships
Naming for a single product	Boxes in the company
Naming around a city	Limits geographic expansion
Cute spelling without a reason	Hurts word-of-mouth, dates fast
Buying a premium .com that costs more than 1 year of runway	Misallocation of capital

When to override your shortlist

A name that passes 11 of 12 checks but has a perfect emotional resonance with your team — keep it. A name that passes all 12 but everyone is "meh" about — drop it. The checklist is a floor, not a ceiling. The goal is to eliminate disastrous names; choosing the best of the survivors is taste.

Try this starter prompt

“Climate-tech-only branding studio”

Generate a fresh shortlist →

After you register

Add WHOIS privacy if your registrar doesn't default to it.
Set DNS records before you announce — don't let visitors hit a "domain parked" page.
Enable DNSSEC. It takes five minutes and prevents DNS hijacks.
File the trademark in your home jurisdiction within the first 12 months.
Reserve common typo variants — singular/plural, hyphenated, common misspellings.

Frequently asked

Do I need a trademark before I launch?+

No, but file within the first 12 months. You're building brand equity from day one; a competitor seeing your traction can otherwise file ahead of you.

What if my exact name is trademarked in a different category?+

Trademarks are class-specific. "Delta" works as an airline AND a faucet brand. But you'll want a lawyer's opinion before you go big in marketing.

How much should I budget for the right name?+

For a bootstrapped project: $15-$200 (a regular TLD). For a funded startup: up to 1% of seed round, or $10K-50K. Above that, you're overspending — the brand value comes from your work, not the URL.